Iraqi insurgents

Iraqi insurgents were an umbrella group of Iraqi resistance fighters that fought against the United States during the Iraq War and against the government of Iraq after 2011 during the Iraqi Civil War. They included Ba'ath Party loyalists/Iraqi nationalists, Sunni insurgents from the Islamic State of Iraq, Ansar al-Sunna, and other terrorist groups, Shi'ite rebels of the Mahdi Army, or groups that resisted the coalition forces. The insurgents fought mainly in the "Sunni Triangle" north of Baghdad, where most of the war took place. During the Iraq War, there were 70,000 Sunni insurgents and 60,000 Shi'ite insurgents, while in the insurgency agianst the government after 2011 there were 100,000 Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters and 102,900+ Ba'athists, Islamic Army in Iraq, and other Sunni insurgents fighting the goverment.

History
Although al-Qaeda in Iraq was founded in 1999, insurgents in Iraq were idle until after April 2003, when the United States and United Kingdom deposed the leader of Ba'athist Iraq, Saddam Hussein, after a quick invasion. Saddam's downfall led to chaos in the country as former Ba'ath Party loyalists, upset with their loss of power, led an Iraqi nationalist insurgency. In addition, Sunni clerics incited their students to wage war against the perceived enemies of Islam, including the United States, United Kingdom, and the other Multinational Force - Iraq allies. Shi'ite clerics also mustered up resistance against the coalition, with Iran sending guns and funding to these "Special Groups". After the downfall of Saddam on 1 May 2003, the Iraqi government made peace with the coalition, and a democratic government ruled by the Shi'ite majority (rather than the Sunni elite that included Saddam) and by the Kurdish ethnic group was installed. The new government, aided by the occupying coalition, fought against the insurgents in several search-and-destroy operations, fighting a prolonged and asymmetrical war.

The insurgents grew to 70,000 Sunnis and 60,000 Shi'ites, who fought against the coalition and government forces in various ways. They used IEDs (improvised explosive devices), ambushes, and suicide bombings against both military and civilian targets to demoralize their enemies, but the Coalition forces carried out several anti-terror operations in the "Sunni Triangle" north of Baghdad, where much of the fighting took place. The cities of Fallujah, Ramadi, Baghdad, and the surrounding areas were hotbeds of insurgent activity, so the Coalition launched several attacks on insurgents in those areas.

In 2006, the insurgency took on a new form as the al-Qaeda in Iraq group under the deranged Jordanian killer Abu Musab al-Zarqawi grew into a powerful group, carrying out several terrorist attacks. The United States launched drone strikes on terrorist leaders and assassinated Zarqawi, but AQI grew into the Islamic State of Iraq under Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, who led several attacks against the coalition. The insurgency grew, and in 2007, President George W. Bush sent more troops in a "troop surge" to Iraq in order to combat terrorism. For a while it seemed to work, but the war continued to be hard as the insurgency grew.

In 2008, after years of war, most of the Coalition member states withdrew their forces from Iraq. The United States maintained a presence in Iraq until December 2011, when they withdrew from the country. However, their withdrawal led to the insurgency gaining strength, as they gathered to fight against the US puppet government, which was now powerless. In 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) rapidly took over northern Iraq in a blitzkrieg offensive with 100,000 fighters as Iraqi soldiers took off their uniforms and abandoned their weapons, fleeing to become civilians (even their commanders abandoned the fight). The government struggled to hold onto control of their cities as the insurgents advanced. Kurdish units fought them in the north after a ceasefire for a few weeks, and the conflict merged with the Syrian Civil War in neighboring Syria, where ISIS was gaining ground as well. In July 2014, ISIS proclaimed itself "the Islamic State", with leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaiming himself the new Caliph of Islam. ISIS gained strength from foreign fighters: 3,000 came from Tunisia, 2,500 from Saudi Arabia, 1,700 from Russia (mainly Chechnya and Dagestan), 1,500 from Jordan, 1,500 from Morocco, 1,200 from France, 1,000 from Turkey, 900 from Lebanon, 650 from Germany, 600 from Libya, 600 from the United Kingdom, 500 from Uzbekistan, 500 from Pakistan, 440 from Belgium, 360 from Turkmenistan, 360 from Egypt, 350 from Serbia, 330 from Bosnia and Herzegovina, 300 from China (Uyghurs from Xinjiang), 300 from Kosovo, 300 from Sweden, 250 from Australia, 250 from Kazakhstan, 250 from the Netherlands, 200 from Austria, 200 from Algeria, 190 from Tajikistan, 180 from the United States, 150 from Norway, 150 from Denmark, 140 from Albania, 130 from Canada, 110 from Yemen, 100 from Sudan, 100 from Kyrgyzstan, 100 from Spain, 80 from Italy, 80 from Palestine, 70 from Somalia, 70 from Kuwait, 70 from Finland, 50 from Ukraine, 50 from Israel (Palestinian Muslims inside of Israel), 40 from Switzerland, 30 from Ireland, 18 from India, and 12 from Portugal. Their total strength in Iraq, bolstered by the foreign fighters, was 100,000, with 100,000 more in Syria.

Despite a large number of insurgents coming from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, even more came from other Sunni militant groups. 75,000 came from the General Military Council for Iraqi Revolutionaries (GMCIR) alone; aside from these Ba'athist insurgents, there were 10,000+ insurgents loyal to the Supreme Council for Jihad and Liberation (SCJL), another Ba'athist group, 10,400 from the Islamic Army in Iraq, 5,000+ Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order (JRTN) Ba'athist group, and 2,500 of the Free Iraqi Army, an anti-Shia Islam insurgent group. These forces were over 102,000 troops, more than the forces of ISIS.

The Iraqi insurgents conquered most of northern Iraq in June 2014, capturing US Army military equipment such as tanks, APCs, planes, Carbine rifles, grenades, body armor, helmets, and ammunition that had been supplied to the New Iraqi Army during the Iraq War. They also managed to get their hands on nuclear materials from the University of Mosul, but they were unable to find out a way to weaponize it. In August 2014, the United States began to support the government following the beheading of journalist James Foley and the insurgents' advance on Baghdad and the Kurdish city of Erbil, where the US had an embassy. The Americans were also appalled by the genocide against the Yazidis of Mount Sinjar, to whom they had sent aid. American airstrikes against the ISIS and insurgent forces helped to hold them back, delaying their advances as the government and Peshmerga coordinated counterattacks. Soon, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Australia, Jordan, Morocco, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Turkey intervened in Iraq, and they sent advisers to help the government. The US, UK, Canada, France, and Australia also used airstrikes against ISIS and the insurgents, delaying them.

The insurgents were eventually pushed back by Iraqi ground offensives assisted by Shi'ite paramilitary forces (who were still enemies of the United States, however) and Iranian Quds Force operatives. The government recaptured Tikrit and prepared to liberate Mosul, although the insurgents were successful in capturing Ramadi in May 2015. Fighting was heavy on the front lines as the insurgents battled the Iraqi government. In Tikrit, it was reported that Ba'athist commander Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri was killed on 17 April by Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, and his body was sent to Baghdad for DNA testing.

Weaponry
Iraqi insurgents are typically equipped with low-grade military equipment and cheap weapons. Most of their guns are Soviet-made assault rifles or light machine guns, using the AK-47 assault rifle, the Makarov pistol, and RPK light machine gun. They usually do not have a large amount of grenades equipped, if any. Iraqi insurgents have recently acquired American-made weapons captured from the Iraqi Army, and have used these weapons in combat. These include the M4A1 carbine and FGM-148 Javelin missile launcher.